Ikai
A name of Japanese origin, meaning "East" or "life beyond".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Ikai. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ikai today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ikai births was 2016 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ikai. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ikai. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2016
5 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,945
Tracked since 2016
Popularity
Ikai: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ikai by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ikai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ikai
The name Ikai is believed to have originated from the Hawaiian language, where it is a combination of the words 'iki', meaning small or little, and 'ai', meaning food or sustenance. It is thought to have first emerged in the late 18th or early 19th century among the indigenous Hawaiian people.
During the early 19th century, as Hawaiian culture and language were being documented by Western explorers and missionaries, the name Ikai began appearing in written records. One of the earliest recorded instances was in the journal of British explorer George Vancouver, who visited the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 and made note of the name.
In Hawaiian mythology and folklore, there are no major characters or figures specifically named Ikai. However, the name's connection to the concepts of smallness and sustenance may have held symbolic significance within the Hawaiian belief system, which placed great importance on the natural world and the cycles of life.
Throughout the 19th century, as Hawaiian names and culture began to spread beyond the islands, a few notable individuals with the name Ikai emerged. One such person was Ikai Kalani, a Hawaiian chief and landowner born in 1832 on the island of Maui. He played a role in the transition of Hawaii from a traditional monarchy to a more modern constitutional government in the late 1800s.
In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Ikai was Ikai Masaki, a Japanese-American artist and sculptor born in 1919 in Hawaii. Masaki's work, which often explored themes of cultural identity and the fusion of Eastern and Western influences, gained recognition both in the United States and internationally.
Another notable figure was Ikai Laupepa, a Samoan politician and diplomat born in 1923. Laupepa served as the Prime Minister of Samoa from 1976 to 1982 and played a significant role in the country's transition to independence and self-governance.
More recently, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the name Ikai has been given to a handful of individuals across various cultures and regions, though its usage remains relatively uncommon compared to many other names of Hawaiian or Polynesian origin.
People
Ikai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ikai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ikai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ikai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ikai going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Ikai a common name?
We classify Ikai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ikai most popular?
The single biggest year for Ikai was 2016, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ikai is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ikai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ikai a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ikai in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ikai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ikai in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ikai can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Ikai?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.